Chorzele

{{for|the village of the same name|Chorzele, Podlaskie Voivodeship}} {{Multiple issues| {{prose|date=May 2020}} {{More citations needed|date=January 2021}} }} {{Infobox settlement | name = Chorzele | image_skyline = Chorzele (powiat przasnyski).jpeg | image_caption = View towards the town | image_shield = POL Chorzele COA new.svg | image_flag = POL Chorzele flag.svg | pushpin_map = Poland | pushpin_label_position = bottom | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = {{POL}} | subdivision_type1 = Voivodeship | subdivision_name1 = Masovian | subdivision_type2 = County | subdivision_name2 = Przasnysz | subdivision_type3 = Gmina | subdivision_name3 = Chorzele | leader_title = Mayor | leader_name = Beata Szczepankowska (since 2010) | established_title = First mentioned | established_date = 1444 | established_title3 = Town rights | established_date3 = 1542-1870, 1919 | area_total_km2 = 17.51 | population_as_of = 31 December 2021<ref name="population">{{cite web|url=https://bdl.stat.gov.pl/BDL/dane/teryt/jednostka|title=Local Data Bank|access-date=2022-06-15|publisher=Statistics Poland}} Data for territorial unit 1422024.</ref> | population_total = 3047 | population_density_km2 = auto | timezone = CET | utc_offset = +1 | timezone_DST = CEST | utc_offset_DST = +2 | coordinates = {{coord|53|15|N|20|54|E|region:PL|display=title,inline}} | postal_code_type = Postal code | postal_code = 06-330<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.poczta-polska.pl/hermes/uploads/2013/02/spispna.pdf|title=Oficjalny Spis Pocztowych Numerów Adresowych|website=Poczta Polska|access-date=30 December 2025|language=pl|archive-date=22 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222162405/https://www.poczta-polska.pl/hermes/uploads/2013/02/spispna.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> | area_code = +48 29 | blank_name = Car plates | blank_info = WPZ | website = http://www.chorzele.pl/ }} '''Chorzele''' {{IPAc-pl|h|o|'|ż|e|l|e}} is a town in Przasnysz County, Masovian Voivodeship, Poland, on the Orzyc River.{{TERYT}}

As of December 2021, the town has a population of 3,047.<ref name = population />

The town is crossed by the national road No. 57 Bartoszyce - Pułtusk and provincial roads 614 to Myszyniec and 616 to Ciechanów. The international airport in Szymany is located {{convert|25|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} north of the city.

== History == thumb|left|upright|16th-century town seal of Chorzele The first mention of Chorzele comes from a document of Duke Bolesław IV of Warsaw from 1444. The names comes from the Old Polish word ''orz'' or ''horz'', similarly to the name of the Orzyc river. It was a settlement situated on the edge of the forest. It was vested with town rights in 1542.<ref name=kal>{{cite web|url=https://chorzele.pl/?c=mdTresc-cmPokaz-74|title=Kalendarium|website=Urząd Miasta i Gminy Chorzele|accessdate=13 December 2020|language=pl}}</ref> Chorzele was a royal town of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, administratively located in the Przasnysz County in the Masovian Voivodeship in the Greater Poland Province.<ref>{{cite book|author=|title=Mazowsze w drugiej połowie XVI wieku; Cz.1, Mapy, plany|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN|page=3}}</ref> It had trade contacts with Russia. The town was devastated during the Swedish invasion of Poland (''Deluge'') in the 1655–1656.<ref name=kal/> To help revive the town, in 1690 King John III Sobieski granted new privileges,<ref name=kal/> including annual fairs. The inhabitants fought against the invading Swedes in 1708 during the Great Northern War.<ref name=kal/> Kings Augustus III of Poland and Stanisław August Poniatowski granted new privileges in 1757 and 1776.<ref name=kal/>

In 1795 it became part of the Prussian Partition of Poland after the Third Partition of Poland. In 1807 it was regained by Poles and included within the short-lived Polish Duchy of Warsaw, and in 1815 it became part of Congress Poland in the Russian Partition of Poland. It was a governmental town of Congress Poland, administratively located in the Płock Voivodeship, and then in the Płock Governorate. In the 19th century the industry developed, large livestock fairs took place, and the town experienced a rapid growth of the Jewish population, which settled following the persecution and expulsion of Jews from Russia to the Russian Partition of Poland (see ''Pale of Settlement''). Fights of the Polish November Uprising (1830–1831) were fought in the area.<ref name=kal/> During the January Uprising, on February 3, 1863, Polish insurgents attacked stationed Russian troops in the town, and forced them to withdraw towards Opaleniec.<ref>{{cite book|last=Zieliński|first=Stanisław|title=Bitwy i potyczki 1863-1864. Na podstawie materyałów drukowanych i rękopiśmiennych Muzeum Narodowego w Rapperswilu|year=1913|language=pl|publisher=Fundusz Wydawniczy Muzeum Narodowego w Rapperswilu|location=Rapperswil|page=225}}</ref> Another clash between Polish insurgents and Russian troops occurred on March 14, 1863.<ref>Zieliński, p. 229</ref> In 1870 the municipal rights were revoked by the Russian administration as punishment for the uprising. In 1905 Chorzele was inhabited by 2,301 Jews, constituting 57% of the population. During World War I Chorzele suffered war damages that eventually limited the development of the town in the interbellum, and from November 1914 to 1918 it was under German occupation. In 1916 Chorzele obtained a railway connection.

thumb|left|upright|Mural commemorating the Polish victory in the Battle of Chorzele in 1920 After the war, in 1918, Poland regained independence, and in 1919 the town rights were restored. The Battle of Chorzele was fought during the Polish–Soviet War on August 23, 1920. A Polish Border Guard station was located in the town in the interwar period. According to the 1921 census, the town had a population of 2,454, 64.7% Polish and 35.3% Jewish.<ref name=gus>{{cite book|author=|title=Skorowidz miejscowości Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej. Tom I|year=1925|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=Główny Urząd Statystyczny|page=126}}</ref> In 1930, Chorzele was visited by President of Poland, Ignacy Mościcki.<ref name=kal/>

Following the joint German-Soviet invasion of Poland, which started World War II in September 1939, the town was occupied by Germany, which directly annexed it into the Third Reich and renamed it ''Chorzellern''. In late 1939, local Polish priests Andrzej Krysiak and Franciszek Burawski were deported to the Soldau concentration camp and then murdered there.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wardzyńska|first=Maria|year=2009|title=Był rok 1939. Operacja niemieckiej policji bezpieczeństwa w Polsce. Intelligenzaktion|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=IPN|page=228}}</ref> In 1940–1941, the anti-Polish propaganda film ''Heimkehr'' was shot in the town.<ref name=kal/> In 1941, the Germans deported the local Jewish population, which was later exterminated in the Holocaust.

On 20 January 1945, the town was captured by Soviet troops of the 32nd Cavalry Division of the 3rd Army. It was afterwards restored to Poland, however with a Soviet-installed communist regime, which then stayed in power until the Fall of Communism in the 1980s. In December 1945, a unit of the Polish underground resistance broke the arrest of the Citizen's Militia and released 14 soldiers of the resistance movement.

In 1975, the Municipality of Chorzele was located within the framework of Ostrołęka Voivodeship, and since 1999 under the Przasnysz County in the Masovian Voivodeship.

== Demographics == Detailed data as of 31 December 2021:<ref name = population /> {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right;" !Description|| colspan=2|All || colspan=2|Women || colspan=2|Men |- |Unit || person || percentage || person || percentage || person || percentage |-- |Population || '''3047'''|| 100 || 1551 || 50.9% || 1496 || 49.1% |-- |Population density || colspan=2| 174.0|| colspan=2| 88.6|| colspan=2| 85.4 |}

===Number of inhabitants by year=== {{Historical populations|align=left|cols=2|1921|2454|1995|2643|2000|2780|2005|2780|2010|2969|2015|3030|2020|3100|2021|3047 |source=<ref name=gus/>}} {{clear|left}}

== Monuments == [[File:Pomnik Tadeusza Kościuszki w Chorzelach.jpeg|thumb|Tadeusz Kościuszko Monument]] thumb|Holy Trinity church Monuments include: *Holy Trinity Church from 1878 to 1930. *A malfunctioning wooden windmill from the 19th century. *A statue of Tadeusz Kosciuszko. *A 19th-century Jewish cemetery devastated during the German occupation.

== Culture == There are festivals in Chorzele, such as the folklore meeting or Sundays in the city. In addition, art and recitation competitions and a song festival are organized. There is a Public Library in the city. There are also firefighting competitions.

== Mayors of Chorzele == * Krzysztof Nieliwodzki (1998-1999) * Janusz Nidzgorski (1999-2002) * Andrzej Krawczyk (2002-2006) * Wojciech Kobyliński (2006-2010) * Beata Szczepankowska (since 2010)

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == * [http://gminachorzele.pl/ Official town and gmina webpage] * [http://www.sztetl.org.pl/en/city/chorzele/ Jewish Community in Chorzele] on Virtual Shtetl * [https://www.infoprzasnysz.com/category/chorzele/ Infoprzasnysz.com - News from Chorzele]

Category:Cities and towns in Masovian Voivodeship Category:Przasnysz County